Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:

 

[debid]

I really wish I'd taken pictures before I wrestled the heating pad sandwich back into the cover. It's by no means neat or fancy but everything is all snug. Besides, once tucked in and stitched shut, nobody can see the messy bits. I think it might be helpful, though, for folks to see that a mish-mash of junk cobbled together really is perfectly functional.

I have to tell you that I looked in on them the other night and saw an EE underneath the side edge sleeping on her belly -- head out in the cool night air, body up against the heating pad. It was maybe 50 degrees out and she just hit the one week mark yesterday. She looked blissfully comfortable!

 

[dawnd13]

I just want to thank everyone for posting, first about the idea originally, and then for all the other ideas. I absolutely love this. I have been raising chicks the last three years, always going with the awful red heat lamp because I didn't know any better. I hated that thing so much and was so worried about the fire factor. After reading pretty much all 800+ posts on this thread, I decided to try the heating pad this year.

My chicks just needed a little guidance getting in the "cave" the first time and then they got the hang of it. They sleep through the night and get up when I turn on the light in the morning. I raise the chicks in the house, so no more waking me up in the middle of the night. I had 4 chicks for the first week and then got a couple of new ones so we have 6 total in the cave and brooder. The first 4 are now 2 weeks old and the other 2 are now a week old. They are all doing great and they can pick how much warmth they want by staying near the entrance or going further into the cave.

I just used a left over piece of welded wire. I wrapped the cut sides with a little electrical tape, and then place a towel on top of the wire, followed by the heating pad. I then added another towel wrapped in the press n seal wrap (great for all kinds of things) and we were good to go. The only change I have now made is I added another small cotton bath mat on top of the heating pad (under the covered towel). It gives them a little more warmth for the nights as the house gets fairly cold at night. I also have the exterior sensor for my indoor/outdoor thermometer inside the cave so I can monitor the temperature. I will never go back to the heat lamp again!

The girls also love to camp out on top of the cave and now that they are in their "big" brooder, they can go on top of the cave and then jump onto the perch that's a little to high for them right now from the floor. I have six very happy campers.

So thank you again to everyone. I have only had my girls for three years now and I have learned everything from this site. Here's the pic of my Mama Heating Pad, which I call the Cave.

 

[casportpony]

@dawnd13 , welcome to BYC!

 

[Blooie]

I'm so glad it's working for you! And consider your dues paid!! One thing I might mention, if your house to be a bit chilly. The less layers of stuff on top of the pad the better, in my opinion. They love to sit and even sleep on top of the cave. So if it's toasty, they may be more comfortable. Good job! Reading 800 pages of any thread is one heck of an achievement, especially with as many modifications as folks have contributed.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I wanted to post some photos here to show how cold chicks interact with the MHP, and also what it looks like when the MHP isn't low enough. This is a group of chicks that arrived in the mail this morning and had gotten quite chilled en route (their poor little feetsies were so cold when I was taking them out of the box!). I was in a time crunch and reused a MHP that I had recently taken out of the brooder for some older chicks, so the MHP was arched up too high, and I didn't realize it.

Here is a photo of cold chicks seeking warmth along the edges, piling up a lot, about 30 minutes after unboxing them. Clearly they are not warm enough and this is too high. (Ignore the crazy little girl in the middle. She's already running around like a champ!)




So I gently pulled out one side of the MHP to widen it and therefore make the arch lower (it sort of anchors against the bedding/towels and stays flexed out). It may be harder to see now (and some chicks had warmed up and were coming out), but they're no longer piled up along the edges and more spread out. There are a few that have still chosen to press right up against the edge - these are probably ones that were the coldest/weakest (one chick didn't survive the trip, and when taking them out, I was worried about a few more - these may be those chicks who had it roughest and need the most warmth).




The advantage to a hoop type shape is this ability to relatively easily adjust the height - harder to do with a flat-topped MHP or other device.

- Ant Farm

 

[Blooie]

I wanted to post some photos here to show how cold chicks interact with the MHP, and also what it looks like when the MHP isn't low enough. This is a group of chicks that arrived in the mail this morning and had gotten quite chilled en route (their poor little feetsies were so cold when I was taking them out of the box!). I was in a time crunch and reused a MHP that I had recently taken out of the brooder for some older chicks, so the MHP was arched up too high, and I didn't realize it.

Here is a photo of cold chicks seeking warmth along the edges, piling up a lot, about 30 minutes after unboxing them. Clearly they are not warm enough and this is too high. (Ignore the crazy little girl in the middle. She's already running around like a champ!)




So I gently pulled out one side of the MHP to widen it and therefore make the arch lower (it sort of anchors against the bedding/towels and stays flexed out). It may be harder to see now (and some chicks had warmed up and were coming out), but they're no longer piled up along the edges and more spread out. There are a few that have still chosen to press right up against the edge - these are probably ones that were the coldest/weakest (one chick didn't survive the trip, and when taking them out, I was worried about a few more - these may be those chicks who had it roughest and need the most warmth).




The advantage to a hoop type shape is this ability to relatively easily adjust the height - harder to do with a flat-topped MHP or other device.

- Ant Farm

Yes, yes and yes! Those photos are very helpful, and I'm hoping the weak ones rally! Got any Nutridrench?

 

[casportpony]

I wanted to post some photos here to show how cold chicks interact with the MHP, and also what it looks like when the MHP isn't low enough. This is a group of chicks that arrived in the mail this morning and had gotten quite chilled en route (their poor little feetsies were so cold when I was taking them out of the box!). I was in a time crunch and reused a MHP that I had recently taken out of the brooder for some older chicks, so the MHP was arched up too high, and I didn't realize it.

Here is a photo of cold chicks seeking warmth along the edges, piling up a lot, about 30 minutes after unboxing them. Clearly they are not warm enough and this is too high. (Ignore the crazy little girl in the middle. She's already running around like a champ!)




So I gently pulled out one side of the MHP to widen it and therefore make the arch lower (it sort of anchors against the bedding/towels and stays flexed out). It may be harder to see now (and some chicks had warmed up and were coming out), but they're no longer piled up along the edges and more spread out. There are a few that have still chosen to press right up against the edge - these are probably ones that were the coldest/weakest (one chick didn't survive the trip, and when taking them out, I was worried about a few more - these may be those chicks who had it roughest and need the most warmth).




The advantage to a hoop type shape is this ability to relatively easily adjust the height - harder to do with a flat-topped MHP or other device.

- Ant Farm

Thanks for the pictures... very easy to see how much perkier they are now that you lowered the MHP. Hope the rest perk up soon!

 

[Jessie22]

If you put a towel over the hole in the back, it will be much warmer for the chicks and all the inside area will be warmer.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote: I have Nutridrench, but I actually have started using Poultry ProVita in their water instead - it has worked better for me (and I have had some chicks that do not like to drink the Nutridrench water). Sally Sunshine turned me on to it, all my chicks who have been raised on it (the first couple weeks) have done so very well!

Thanks for the pictures... very easy to see how much perkier they are now that you lowered the MHP. Hope the rest perk up soon!

They are rallying, at least most of them, and are finding the water and food and eating and drinking. I'm trying not to bug them, but am keeping an eye out for piling up in any way.

My 1.5 week olds are all on top of their MHP today. All 26 of them. It's like clockwork, and 1-2 weeks, they suddenly vastly prefer the top. Per your earlier comment, Blooie, my MHP have only the frame, a pillow case, and some cloth diapers over the top, and if you hold you hand on the top, it's still warm. Sometimes babies will burrow under the cloth diapers on top and sleep that way, a little like a mama broody's feathers:



- Ant Farm